Yet where Wake couldn’t capitalize, rookie Olivier Vernon (+5.4) picked up the slack. In on barely one third of the Dolphins’ defensive plays, Vernon victimized Wayne Hunter for two hits and two hurries. He made his presence felt in the run game as well where he beat the Rams’ tight ends on successive plays in the second quarter for a stop on both plays.

The third-rounder really came through in the clutch. With 42 seconds left and the Rams driving, he effortlessly shed Hunter’s block to get immediate pressure on Bradford. On the ensuing play, he escorted Hunter straight back into the pocket before casting him aside and collapsing on Bradford, forcing a 66 yard field goal attempt on 4th down. Look for Vernon’s playing time to increase dramatically if he can replicate this performance against better offensive lines.

With the Dolphins switching schemes to a 4-3 defense in the offseason we have already seen Cameron Wake continue to wreak havoc on opposing offenses. This week one of his fellow defensive lineman decided to make the most of his 26 snaps and try to outshine him. Heading into Week 6 Olivier Vernon (+5.4) had already shown flashes of his potential, with a four-hurry performance on the road against the Arizona Cardinals back in Week 4. This time he went beyond producing hurries however, and added some fine play against the run to boot.

Playing just five snaps in run defense, Vernon produced two tackles, both of which were for defensive stops and both of which came when the St. Louis Rams tried to block him with a tight end. The problems he gave Rams left tackle Wayne Hunter as a pass rusher, however, were even more impressive. He finished the game with two sacks and two quarterback hits with the two most impressive plays coming back-to-back as the Rams tried to drive for the winning field goal. Facing 2nd-and-4 with 42 seconds left in the game, Vernon eased past Hunter on the inside, and knocked Bradford to the ground just as he got the ball away. On the very next play he again beat Hunter, this time with a bull rush, before sacking the Rams quarterback for a 4-yard loss. That forced the Rams to attempt a 66-yard field goal that went wide left to seal the Dolphins third win of the season. He’ll face better tackles than Hunter in his time in the league, that’s for sure, but the Dolphins will be impressed that the former Miami Hurricane is making an impact like that this early in his career.